The Night My Dad Saved Christmas 2

The Commodity of Joy

There is a moment in *The Night My Dad Saved Christmas 2* (*La Navidad en sus manos 2*) where the mechanics of magic collide violently with the mechanics of capitalism. Santa Claus, once again played by the indefatigable Santiago Segura, finds himself bound not by magic ropes, but by the corporate avarice of a toy executive who views his gift-giving as "unfair competition." It is a sharp, if somewhat clumsy, metaphor for the film itself: a sincere attempt to package the ephemeral spirit of the holidays into a streaming-ready product. Director Joaquín Mazón returns to this universe with a sequel that is noisier and more frantic than its predecessor, yet beneath the slapstick and the CGI reindeer, it harbors a melancholic question about what happens when innocence—both in children and in cinema—is forced to grow up.



Mazón’s visual language in this sequel shifts from the warm, fireplace-lit intimacy of the first film to a colder, more industrial palette. The antagonist’s headquarters—a sterile, glass-and-steel fortress of the "Planet Toys" corporation—stands in stark contrast to the organic, messy warmth of Salva’s (Ernesto Sevilla) home life. Mazón frames these corporate spaces with wide, symmetrical shots that emphasize their soullessness, a visual critique of the commercialization that the script explicitly tackles. However, the film often succumbs to the very aesthetic it satirizes. The special effects, particularly during the sleigh chase sequences, feel curiously weightless, creating a digital barrier between the audience and the danger. It is a world where the stakes feel simulated, a video game cutscene rather than a tangible peril.



The film’s true resonance lies not in its spectacle, but in its central performance and conflict. Santiago Segura pulls double duty here, playing both the captive Saint Nick and "Maro Cuisada," a pretentious method actor hired to impersonate him. Segura’s performance as the impostor is a delightful exercise in meta-humor, mocking the absurdity of "finding one's truth" in a lie. But the emotional anchor remains Ernesto Sevilla as Salva.

In the first film, Salva was fighting for redemption; here, he is fighting the inevitable drift of time. His son, Lucas (Unax Hayden), has transitioned from wide-eyed believer to a moody adolescent who prefers his phone to his father’s clumsy attempts at connection. This generational friction is the film's beating heart. The "mission" to save Santa is merely a proxy for Salva’s desperate attempt to save the version of his son who still believed in magic. It is a poignant, universal struggle that gives the film a gravity its chaotic plot sometimes lacks.



Ultimately, *The Night My Dad Saved Christmas 2* suffers from the "more is more" philosophy of modern sequels, expanding the lore while thinning the mystery. It is a film at war with itself, torn between being a heartfelt family drama and a broad, algorithm-pleasing comedy. Yet, despite the noise, there is a sweetness that endures. It suggests that while we cannot stop our children from growing up or the world from becoming more cynical, we can—occasionally, and with great effort—suspend our disbelief long enough to see the magic in the mundane. It is not a masterpiece of holiday cinema, but in an era of cynical cash-grabs, its messy sincerity is a gift worth unwrapping.